In the past year, we have engaged in a number of events and activities to introduce other students to FIRST. We are particularly interested in repeatedly exposing younger Girl Scouts, believing if they see us having fun and engaging in STEM, they can more easily envision themselves in those roles.
Additionally, we have engaged in a series of workshop designed to educate our team members on careers in engineering in STEM, inviting a series of guest speakers to tell us their stories. Included in this group are female professionals in all stages of their careers from the Jet Propulsion lab, ASU's Fulton School of Engineering, the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University, and CVS.
(ongoing) FIRST Like a Girl Ambassadors
(ongoing) m.e.Ambassadors (Menstrual Equity)
(monthly) Girl Scout Badge Workshops
(ongoing) Mentor to FLL Team #67501, DC Hamburgers
(January 2026) Pima Jammin'
(September 2025) Ice Cream Social
(August 2025) Back-to-School Events
Sonoran Sky
Cheyenne Traditional School
Grayhawk Elementary
Desert Canyon Elementary
Copper Ridge
Desert Canyon Middle School
Laguna Elementary
Anasazi Elementary
(July 2025) Teen Stem Cafe at The Square
(June 2025) Exhibitor at Phoenix Fan Fusion
(June 2025) Robotics Camp
(June 2025) Science Rotation, Girl Scout Day Camp
(April 2025) Annual Meeting
(February 2025) Bring Home the Cookies 5K
(November 2024) B.I.G. (Believe in Girls) Event
(October 2024) Ice Cream Social
(October 2024) Encampment Robotics Intro to FTC workshop
(August 2024) Back-to-School Events
Sonoran Sky
Cheyenne
Desert Canyon Elementary
Copper Ridge
Desert Canyon Middle School
(Completed August 2024) Gold Award
(June 2024) Day Camp Robotics (grades 1-5)
(April 2024) Annual Meeting Parsons Leadership Center
(April 2024) Pima Camp Jammin' (K-12)
(February 2024) Bring Home the Cookies 5K
(January 2024) Engineering Design Process Workshop
(October 2023) Ice Cream Social
(September 2023) Encampment
(August 2023) Back-to-School/Meet-the-Teacher Events (Sonoran Sky and Desert Canyon Elementary)
(August 2023 ) GIT and Infosol-sponsored Hackathon
(June 2023) Day Camp Robotics (grades 1-5)
(June 2023) Introduction to Robotics Workshop for Pima Girl Scouts in grades 7-8
(Ongoing) Press
We host badge workshops for all levels of Girl Scouting. Each level has three interconnected badges that teach the basics of robotics. We have many activities to show girls the basics of coding and to teach them cooperative problem solving. One activity we use is a game where you would code your friend. In this game, two people have their eyes closed and the third person gives them commands and tells them where to move. Other activities included Scratch, which is a block coding website, a robot mouse coding game (you press the arrows on the mouse's back to command it were to move), and the Ozobot, which is a small robot who takes commands by color. Some things that we changed in later workshops include eliminating competitive games because that took the fun out of the games for some girls and use Scratch Jr. because Scratch was too complicated for the younger girls.
The response to our workshops has been overwhelmingly positive, and leaders are thrilled to let “the experts” lead these badges. We are excited that Junior Girl Scouts, in grades 4 and 5, are interested in pursuing robotics and Emily, who is working on her Gold Award, is working on improving our content for girls in those grades.
If you have a troop that wants to earn robotics badges, please check our availability for a badge workshop on the calendar below. We offer Sunday dates once a month! If the dates do not work for you, please email us to discuss alternatives.
Check out these photos from our workshops and events
Pima Jammin'
Bring Home the Cookies 5K
Daisy and Brownie Badge Workshop
Junior Badge Workshop
Day Camp Robotics
In June, we held two events. First, we were able to do a robotics rotation at our neighborhood's annual day camp, which was held at Shepherd of the Desert Church in Scottsdale. These daily rotations introduced about 100 girls to the basics of robotics and allowing them to try their hand at driving Ferdinand and introducing them to basic design and build concepts. Second, we held a workshop for girls in grades 7-8, again concentrating on introducing Ferdinand, FIRST, and FTC. The older girls engaged in building challenges and were able to drive Ferdinand. We gained three new members as a result of the latter!
Older Girl Intro to Robotics
Back-to-School Events, Sonoran Sky and Desert Canyon Elementary
In August, we held to attend two Back-to-School events with Fedinand. Ferdinand was a great hit, handing out bracelets and greeting students. We were able to allow students a chance to drive and answered questions about FIRST FTC and our team. Our goal with these events was to raise awareness within our community about girls in STEM in general and about the Girl Scout FTC team specifically. While the students enjoyed checking out Ferdinand, we were able to assure the adults in attendance that we do indeed have an all-girl FTC robotics team.
Encampment
In September, Ferdinand went camping at Camp Marapi with about 75 other GIrl Scouts. The team invited girls to check out the build process and ask questions while the worked on basic design questions for the new robot.
We believe the more our sister Girl Scouts see us engaging in robotics, the more likely they are able to see themselves in that role as well.
Ice Cream Social
In October the team attended the neighborhood ice cream social where Emily and Illy led a “drone” station, teaching younger girls about aerodynamics and folding paper airplanes, and the rest of the team taught girls about circuitry. We chose these “hands-on” activities to generate interest and excitement in girls of all ages.